Greetings!! As the title says I need help catching carp. I spend a lot of time on the Brazos river bass fishing and always noticed the massive amounts of carp there. A friend and I have started to target them but with no luck so far. Being new to carp fishing I don't know if it's just cold water lock jaw or do we need different patterns. I have no problem finding them and presenting my bait but what we've tried has been ignored by them. Water where we fish is super clear and I can see the carp just ignore the bait right in front of them. Crayfish patterns in various colors (brown, black, olive) for fish on the bottom and wooly Buggers in various colors for the suspend carp. I've just done a little research on here and found a few different flies from other post I want to try. Any help in presentation, better flies, or should we just wait for better temps would be appreciated.

I think the main thing to remember if carp are suspended or cruising, they will not eat. They have to be in a tailing position like a redfish with there nose in the mud to be in eat mode. Casting to cruising fish is great for casting practice but you are wasting your time. Carp are also very smart and presentation shy. You will likely have 1-2 chances to get your cast where you need it and if you blow it, it's usually done. In terms of flies you are on the right track but copper john's and trout nymphs work good as well and I would use only fluoro on them as well.

Good luck.

Thanks 4Weight! Yes we saw countless carp but all were cruising or suspended and none tailing. We got plenty casting practice and I was very happy with how good I did with not spoking very many off. That was the frustrating part that I got so many perfect cast without spooking just to watch them not go after the bait. I'm liking this new challenge. Thanks for the info!!!

You bet Todd. It really matters to find feeding fish. You will know it when you see it for sure. They are a blast to catch but really hard to catch and a lot of fun. That's great that you were not spooking fish with your casting. When you get one in feed mode it will be game on.

Post up when you stick one. They will put a bend in your rod for sure.

I have caught thousands of carp and buffalo on a fly over the past several decades and I now only use my carp slayer pattern in a floating or sinking pattern for carp and buffalo, depending on where the fish are feeding. Here is a picture of the fly.





You can spend many many hours trying to catch a random carp on a fly; not to mention how hard it is to hook one up once you find them. To be really successful you either have to create a feeding situation or find an area where the fish are actively feeding.

Texas is one of the best states to fish for carp and buffalo. There are some massive fish out there. As an incentive here is the black buffalo state record from Whitney. Good luck, don’t give up, and let us know how you do.

Mop fly and also imitates the flower buds they will eat as a dry. Have you caught them sipping that thing?

As mentioned, you will most likely be wasting your time casting to cruising or suspended carp. The most reliable method is casting to tailing carp. Also your fly should land no more than a couple of feet from the carp, preferrably within a 70 degree cone of vision in front of the fish. They do occasionally go after things on the surface. If there are cottonwood trees showering the water with seeds, this will frequently get them looking up and coming up for the seeds. This would be a good time to try a fly that resembles the seed. A friend of mine spent a lot of time fishing for carp and Outdoor Oklahoma TV show did a program on him. Sometimes you have to adopt the methods used by rough fishers in Europe. Charlie would prep the water by tossing out some canned corn or catfish pellets. When the carp moved in to reap the harvest, he would toss his fly. While fishing with him one day, I managed to catch 4 carp on the surface, casting a fly that looked like a floating seed. I have seen flies tied to look like a clump of corn kernels or like a piece of bread. Keep trying. Carp are really a hoot once hooked.

Larry

Carp determine if something is a food item by touching it with their lips or sucking it in and spitting it out if it is not edible. Therefore to hook carp with a fly you have to set the hook the second the fish touches the fly. The small round fly is just the right shape to get sucked in before the fish realizes it is not edible.

Carp can be caught while cruising because one day at Lavon while I was slowly moving next to the rocks by a railroad bridge and dragging a clouser behind me I caught a 6# carp. And no, I didn't foul hook it. It was a rare happening, but it can happen.

I remember reading a thread on fishing for carp on another forum a few years ago. The poster talked about fishing for carp in a river in the NW, either Montana or Idaho, don't remember which. He said he was actually catching carp on Clousers which were stripped fairly fast, and the carp were pursuing them like bass. I wonder if different types of water force carp to adapt their feeding habits. The rivers he was describing were primarily rocky bottomed and faster water.

Larry

What ever he says.

Thanks for the support Chuck.

Osborn fishing...I'm going to make a more concerted effort to catch some carp this sprung here on Tawakoni. Do you mind sharing your hook and leader specs? All the carp I have around me are in heavy brush. Hard to get a good cast in there never mind trying to pull them out.
Thanks in advance.

Found this in my notes when I was learning from a member here, maybe it will help

Carp on the fly
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Ingle
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:51 AM
To:
Subject: carp on the fly

So did you listen to the Ipod carp program on askaboutflyfishing.com?
That is as good of a primer as I know of on the internet for free. The
short version is to look for fish that are tailing. Tailing means fish
that are head down, tail up - sometimes the tail actually breaks the
surface. These fish are in shallow water. Hopefully the water has
enough visibility to see the fish or at least part of the fish. Carp
are NOT bass and can't be fished with the same mentality. They will NOT
chase a fly. You have to deliver the fly within the strike zone. The
strike zone for me is within 10" of the nose of the fish and within a 45
degree angle to the left and to the right of the point of the nose.
Many times the sweet spot is off to one side just a few inches so that
it makes the fly easier to ID.

How not to fish carp. Go where you think there are carp and blind cast
in the water. The way to catch carp is to find fish first before even
getting the line wet. I have walked the banks for well over an hour
without ever wetting a line. It just isn't worth it to blind cast for
me. Find the fish, then put the fly in the sweet spot. Another point
about fly delivery. It will be much easier to put that fly exactly
where it needs to be if the fish is closer to you. I probably catch
more fish within 20' of me than I do with fish that are over 30' away.
If you have a 9' rod and a 7' leader that means that you almost use it
like a cane pole instead of fancy casting with only 4 foot of line out
of the last guide at the tip.

Minimize sound. Carp have a webarian apparatus which allows them to
hear more sounds than a fish just relying on a lateral line. Be quiet
and refrain from large movements close to fish. You are asking, how do
I cast if I can't move that much. Still cast, but minimize movements.
Speaking of casting here is a nice link of casting lessons:
http://www.tightlinesflyshop.com/?cat=17 There are three separate
lessons here. Even though I catch MOST of my fish close, to be a fly
fisherman you still have to cast sometimes to fish that are farther out.

Third main point - the bite. Again, not bass fishing. Most fish I
don't feel anything or see the line move at all. With trout and bass
you will feel a bite or see the fly line move some. Not so with carp.
Matter of fact you probably have had many bites but didn't recognize
them as a bite. I call this signal vs. noise recognition. If you are
expecting a bass slam, you will miss over 90% of the fish. Let me run
through a typical carp fishing day.

I go to where I know fish are, then I use polarized lens to see the fish
in the water. Do you wear glasses now? I fished for season after
season with a flip up pair of Polaroid's, like these. I can send you a
pair if you don't have them. If you can't see the fish it is very hard
to be effective. So I walk and look for tailing fish, not fish just
sitting in the sun resting. I want actively feeding fish and tailers
are doing just that. I will cast to any fish I see, but sunners are not
my target, but will throw a couple of casts at anything, just don't
waste a lot of time on a low percentage fish.

So you now find fish with your Polaroid's, you cast beyond the fish,
bring it in so it is within the strike zone, twitch once or twice and
let the fly settle in front of the fish within the zone on the bottom
and then just leave it there and don't move it. The fish will either
reposition in a positive way toward the fly or snub it completely. You
will get more snubs than positive responses - that's fishin'. Best case
scenario, the fish will move the very short distance to the fly, the
head will go down, tail up. You won't feel a damn thing. Count to two
and hook set. I see most of my fish take the fly with my eyes and you
must have Polaroid's to be able to do this.

This is my way, this isn't the only way. If you have to blind cast,
move the fly slowly along the bottom. You still won't feel a strike,
but as you raise your rod to move the fly the next foot you will feel a
little resistance from the fish having the fly in it's mouth. It will
feel like a weed on the end of the line - hook set. I much prefer the
visual method, but have caught fish blind casting, but of the 100 plus
fish in the net from last year, I would guess that 85% + came from me
seeing the fish and not blind casting.

If you have any questions just ask. To recap:

Find the fish FIRST with polarized glasses

Put the fly in the zone

Distinguish between signal and noise. Learn when to set the hook.
When in doubt, hook set.

Hope this helps put some fish in front of the camera lens.

That is a difficult question. I fish for records and I always use 4 to 6 feet of mono leader from 2 pound to 50 pound for carp and buffalo. Twenty pound is the maximum you can use for an IGFA world records. I use a stout small hook. Usually a #2 mustard 94140 live bait hook. I drop down to a #4 for smaller or finicky fish. In heavy brush, or around poles or rock walls, I would use 30-pound big game. The problem is that the hooks are small and the mouth of the fish is very soft. The first run of a big carp can be spectacular. Carp are one of the only freshwater fish that can put you into the backing immediately. If the fish gets wrapped in brush they will just pull the hook. Thirty pound test will give you a chance at pulling one out before they take off, but you will pull some hooks. I fish one area that I lose about half of everything I hook because of poles and brush. And I have lost state and world records there.

Tawakoni is a fantastic lake. If you has regular access to the lake you can greatly increase your chances but regularly chumming in different areas. Carp are very opportunistic feeders and will regularly stay in an area where food is available. You can also use chum to coax the fish out of brush. Post a picture when you get one.